Post-operative feeding regimen after pyloromyotomy for infantile hypertrophic pyloric stenosis

ABSTRACT

Vomiting is the most common post-operative problem and main determinant of the length of hospital stay after pyloromyotomy for infantile hypertrophic pyloric stenosis. The optimal post-operative feeding regimen, to reduce the incidence and severity of vomiting and the length of post-operative hospital stay, has always been a subject of debate. We review, our experience with three types of delayed post-operative feeding regimens employed in 71 babies. These regimens included immediate resumption of normal feeding, an initial 5% dextrose food followed by normal feeding and gradual graded feeding. An immediate resumption of full-strength normal feeds, 12-24 hours post-operatively was found to be associated with shortest hospital stay without any significant increase in the incidence of vomiting